Lindores Abbey Aqua Vitae

Lindores Abbey is the officially recognised site of the first recorded distillation of Scotch whisky. It was back in 1494 that King James IV commissioned Brother John Cor at Lindores Abbey to make aqua vitae with ‘eight bolls of malt’ (about 500 kg; 400 bottles of production in todays terms). Lindores Aqua Vitae is distilled in pot stills and then infused with a blend of herbs and spices which include: lemon verbena, cleavers, douglas fir and sweet cicely, all of which are foraged from the grounds of the ancient Abbey. This spirit was created to an ancient recipe believed to be similar to the first ever Aqua Vitae produced in Scotland back in 1494. N: Like walking into a spice market there is a bouquet explosion. Pine, aniseed, orange oil, mixed spice, loads of floral-herbal medley, lemon freaking sherbet, all contained in a wholesome mulled wine body. This nose is beyond me to describe fully I suspect, it is not a whisky nose; it is something else altogether different and entirely remarkable. P: Mouth filling and luscious cake batter like texture. Fresh grated nutmeg over fruitcake, dried orange peel, cinnamon stick and cardamon, dark chocolate coated ginger. Brown sugar stick swirled through a black coffee. F: Medium. Spiced dried apple with a beautiful warmth and a minor tannic hold. This is like someone distilled sitting by the fire at christmasy looking at a decorated tree whilst biting into minced pies and waiting for Santa to come down the chimney. Again, this probably shouldn’t be considered in the whisky category but it is going to be my preferred Christmas drink, 40 °C Perth Christmases be damned. Whilst this was thoroughly enjoyed I shouldn’t oversell it. Is it good, yes, I think so. But, it is a one dimensional spice bomb, nothing subtle or particularly deep and complex just well made flavour infused into a great spirit carrier. Distiller whisky taste #181 [Pictured here with a tourmaline-pyrite gabbro from Belnelvie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This rock with its coarse glossy black tourmaline and golden pyrite is from a layered igneous intrusive complex that covers an 11 square-kilometre area. Fractional crystallisation of an ultramafic (high magnesium-iron) molten intrusion 470 million years ago created a variety of stacked rock types]. Lindores running scores: New make: 3.25/5
Aqua Vitae Small Batch: 3.5/5

Nose: Prosecco, green grapes, big white wine note, floral, green apple, a bit of botanics—maybe some juniper and definitely some anise, nutmeg/clove, green grape juice, mulled wine spices, canned peaches, cloudy apple juice Body: a bit dry, quite smooth, slightly spicy, something sort of dusty (in a good way!) Palate: very sweet, definitely still some nutmeg and clove, grapey though not like cognac, peach and pear, cinnamon, dark/cook’s chocolate, rosemary and thyme Finish: soft and tannic, bits of oak and the botanicals hold fast, really juicy as Time goes on